Virgin Atlantic May Add China, South America Flights

The Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. check-in area is seen at Heathrow airport, operated by BAA Ltd., in London. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

(Corrects to remove erroneous reference to slots from IAG
in headline, first and fifth paragraph of story published on
June 13.)

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., the
U.K.’s number two long-haul carrier, may add more flights to
China and South America.

The airline has wanted to start flights to Beijing “for
quite some time” and it is also looking at other cities in
China, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ridgway said in an
interview today in Shanghai. He didn’t name any specific South
American destinations.

Virgin also expects to hear by year-end how many takeoff
and landing slots it will get at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest
airport, following International Consolidated Airlines Group
SA’s acquisition of BMI in April. The carrier has asked for 12
of the slots that IAG, the parent of British Airways, was
ordered to give up as a condition for approval of the BMI deal.

“These slots are very important,” Ridgway said in a
Bloomberg TV interview. “It’s tough because Heathrow is very
full.” The carrier, which has also applied to start flights to
Scotland, holds 3 percent of Heathrow’s takeoff and landing
pairs compared with IAG’s 51 percent.

The start of Beijing flights will depend on the
availability of Heathrow slots and the arrival of Boeing Co.
787s that would be used on the route, Ridgway said. Virgin
expects to start receiving its 16 on-order 787s in the second
half of 2014. The carrier already flies to Shanghai and Hong
Kong in Greater China.

Virgin may also “one day” join one of the three global
airline alliances, Ridgway said. The airline last year began a
review of strategic options after British Airways and American
Airlines boosted cooperation on trans-Atlantic routes.